Appointment politics

Former public safety minister Vic Toews made a mockery of the position, relentlessly working for the interests of the gun lobby against the advice of the nation's police chiefs, the RCMP and numerous public-safety, medical and women's groups.

His main achievement was to expand the old Tory triad of "hunters, farmers and prospectors" to include "target-shooters and collectors." He had the poor judgment to assume that all those who collect guns are law-abiding and had no interest in closer oversight of the hundreds of gun shows that take place each year in Canada.

I'll leave it to Vic Toews' fellow judges to debate whether the speedy destruction of gun-registry data, undertaken so any return to more sensible gun control would be as expensive as possible, was even legal.

RON CHARACH

Toronto, Ont.

After reading the collection of Toews' comments about political appointments, I'd sure like to learn why he himself has accepted a political appointment.

Perhaps it was because he didn't want to disappoint the appointer, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, or his friends on the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench who urged him to let his name stand.

Perhaps he deserves the $288,000 annual salary after being subject to all this pressure.

CHRIS KENNEDY

Winnipeg

In addition to being one of the most partisan politicians this country has every seen, Vic Toews can now add hypocrite to his profile.

Apparently patronage appointments were only wrong when they were made by the Liberals.

ANDREW MORRIS

Winnipeg

War criminals should be tried

The Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association has consistently said any person found in Canada who allegedly committed a war crime or crime against humanity should be brought to trial in a Canadian criminal court of law, regardless of the individual's ethnic, religious or racial heritage or where or when the wrongdoing occurred.

Our courts found Wasyl Odynsky innocent of all allegations made against him, and B'nai Brith Canada was, ultimately, obliged to pay costs. It seems Leigh Halprin is only too happy to play at "Nazi-hunting," but would have us turn a blind eye to the illegal presence in our country of people who served in the ranks of the Communist secret police who somehow managed to sneak into Canada, bogusly claiming to be refugees or victims of the Second World War.

UCCLA's position remains that any veteran of the Communist political police found in Canada should be given an opportunity, in a criminal court, to explain themselves.

We have no idea who the KGB man in Winnipeg is. Regardless, UCCLA's position is that if he was in the KGB, as he admits he was, he does not belong in Canada and should be deported.

ROMAN ZAKALUZNY

Chairman, Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association

Ottawa

Mayrand crossed a line

Evelyn Fletcher's letter The war on transparency (March 10) misses the point. Marc Mayrand's role as chief electoral officer is to enforce the Canada Elections Act as enacted by Parliament.

Mayrand's demand that he have the power to compel testimony is contrary to our common-law right to remain silent if accused of wrongdoing.

Mayrand crossed a line from making recommendations to trying to force his will on Parliament. Opposition leaders and members are well-qualified to point out flaws in proposed Elections Act amendments.

JOHN FELDSTED

Winnipeg

Hitler, Putin parallels valid

Putin's invasion of the Crimea is exactly what Hitler's invasion of the Sudetenland was -- trumped up. There has been no evidence of any Russians or Russian-speakers being "persecuted" in Ukraine. In fact, since Soviet times, they have often been the privileged ones when it comes to language, a remnant of Soviet (and earlier tsarist) times when Russian was more equal than Ukrainian and touted as more "prestigious."

People in their own country want their language to be the state language. Russia (tsarist, Soviet, post-Soviet) has not been able to accept that Ukraine wants to be Ukraine, an independent, democratic country with no danger from its dangerous, northern neighbour.

At least now the world knows that Ukraine and Russia are two separate nations.

History

Updated on Tuesday, March 11, 2014 at 7:27 AM CDT: Adds links

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